Okay, as others have reported, the non-North American version of the
FreeRunner will work in the US.
In California and Nevada, there is extensive coverage by both ATT and
T-Mobile on the 1900 band. Both offer prepaid SIM cards.
If you do end up getting a prepaid SIM, there are two things to note:
T-Mobile US does not sell any data plans to their prepaid customers
(so you will not have ANY data with T-Mobile US on a prepaid SIM)
ATT reportedly sells data at a $20/mo cost (unlimited usage).
However, due to a very long reason, T-Mobile coverage would *in
theory* be better, as ATT also relies on 850 towers (T-Mobile US only
has 1900 towers) -- but in major places like San Francisco and Las
Vegas, it is unlikely to be a problem.
Also, you asked about HSPDA modems. A quick look into the modems
shows they are UMTS/HSDPA/EDGE/GPRS. The modems' UMTS/HSPDA will not
work here on any carrier. The 2100 band, which everyone 3g outside of
the US uses, is used for something else.
ATT uses 850/1900 hybrid bands, and T-Mobile US uses 1700/2100 hybrid
(which is not compatible with just 2100).
Assuming the modems support 1900, then GPRS/EDGE will work with them.
Please note that I am not a prepaid customer, so the prices and
availability I've quoted for prepaid data may be incorrect.
Jeffrey
On Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 12:48 AM, Joel Newkirk <freerunner at newkirk.us> wrote:
>>> On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:59:14 +1000, Dale Maggee <antisol at internode.on.net>
> wrote:
>> Bryan DeLuca wrote:
>>> On Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:46:05 +0200
>>>joakim at verona.se wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> I'm going to travel to the USA next month from Sweden. I will be in San
>>>> Fransisco and Vegas.
>>>>>>>> I would like to use my Freerunner as much as possible as a phone, so I
>>>> have some questions:
>>>> - Will gsm roaming with Telenor(Vodaphone) work well, or should I buy a
>>>> temporary card in the states?
>>>> - I have Huawei E220 and E270 3g (HSUPA) modems, do they work well in
>>>> the states? How much will a temporary flat rate 3g card cost?
>>>> Isn't it a hardware thing? I.e the GSM networks in the USA operate on a
>> different frequency? will it work at all with any carrier?
>> T-Mobile and AT&T have 1900mhz support most everywhere in the US. Both
> versions of the FreeRunner support 1800 and 1900mhz, the only difference
> being 850mhz in North America vs 900Mhz elsewhere for the third band.
>> j
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